Sunday, May 12, 2013

Venus and Serena – The film – A review

Directors:

Maiken Baird

Michelle Major

Written by:

Michelle Major

My father had a lifelong passion
for tennis and introduced me to the game at an early age. I consider myself fortunate to have an
appreciation for this game and to have lived at a time when Venus and Serena
Williams competed. In my opinion,
their story is one of the most compelling in the history of all sports.

I first saw Venus Williams
compete at the U.S. Open before she became a champion. At the time, I had never seen a woman
play tennis who had that kind of power.
I knew that if she could control her power she would dominate the
game. She certainly did that.

The background to this story

The film Venus and Serena gives the background to their lives and begins to
explain why they became so successful in this sport. While I’ve never met the Williams sisters, this review will
look at some issues that the film didn’t cover.

Venus and Serena’s father is
Richard Williams. Richard Williams
was born and raised in Louisiana, and in the film he spoke about how he had
been brutalized during those years.
Eventually he lived in the inner city of Compton, California, where he
taught the Williams sisters to play tennis.

In Isabel Wilkerson’s book, The Warmth of Other Suns – the epic story of
America’s Great Migration, she wrote about Dr. Robert Foster who also was
born and raised in Louisiana, and then migrated to California. She wrote about how Dr. Foster wasn’t
able to make many stops on his way to California in 1953, because there were
few hotels that would allow him to stay due to the color of his skin. Dr. Foster’s experience was similar to
immigrants from all over the world.
He left a place where he didn’t want to be, and went to a place where he
wasn’t wanted.

Wilkerson also wrote about how
there was an entire African American community that had migrated from Louisiana
to California. One family that
migrated was the basketball star Bill Russell’s parents. Another migrant was Geronimo
Pratt. Pratt became a leader of
the Black Panthers. He served
about 29 years in prison for a murder the courts eventually argued that he did
not commit.

Understanding that this was the
environment Richard Williams needed to deal with, his story becomes much more
compelling. Certainly, Mr.
Williams didn’t learn the finer points of tennis during his childhood in
Louisiana. Eventually he learned how
tennis was a game that young Black women could excel in. Armed with this knowledge, as well as
his history of brutalization in Louisiana, he trained two of his daughters to
excel in the game. Mr.
Williams also taught his children to be proud of the fact that they are Black.

Richard Williams wasn’t the only
parent who raised his children to succeed. Certainly, Oracene Price, the Williams sister’s mother was a
big part of their story.

Other parents of star performers

Andre Agassi’s father was also a
taskmaster to his son. Agassi also
became one of the dominant tennis players of his day.

I listened to an interview with
Agassi when he talked about his autobiography, Open. He said that he
hated the pressure cooker atmosphere of competitive tennis. He also admitted to using
methamphetamine to relieve the stress he felt.

A better person to compare
Richard Williams to would be Joe Jackson who was the father of Michael Jackson. Both Williams and Jackson raised their
children to go right to the top of their avocations. Both Williams and Jackson were taskmasters who required
their children to focus on their talent and to avoid the day-to-day activities
children normally participate in.
Both the Williams and Jackson families were, or continue to be,
Jehovah’s Witnesses.

While Richard Williams was born
in Louisiana, Joe Jackson was raised in Arkansas and migrated to Gary,
Indiana. In Gary, Joe Jackson
became a steel worker and did everything in his power to make sure his children
didn’t endure a similar fate.
Unlike the story of Richard Williams, Joe Jackson admits to having
beaten Michael Jackson. In the
film Venus and Serena, there was no allegation made that Richard Williams beat
his children.

Clearly there have been problems
between the Williams sisters and their father. Oracene Price also has a few unkind words to say about her
former husband. In no way am I
attempting to say that these views were not legitimate. All I’m attempting to say is that
Richard Williams’ effort to make his daughters into world champions was a truly
compelling story.

Why is the Williams sisters story so compelling?

While others have been burnt out
after a few years of competition, both Williams sisters have remained champions
for over a decade. They have done
this through serious injuries or illnesses. They have done this while being booed because of the color
of their skin. They have done this
while enduring the murder of a sister.
They have done this in a sport that attracts the affluent, while being
raised in the inner city of Compton, California.

My favorite match of the many
wonderful matches I’ve seen of the Williams sisters was one between Justine
Henin and Serena Williams at the French Open. Justine Henin may have been one of the best players in
woman’s tennis during the time the Williams sisters competed. Henin was thin, fast, and she could hit
the ball hard. Henin was also cool
under pressure and a player needed to play a better game to defeat her, because
she would not beat herself.

This was a wonderful match that
was only decided by the last few points.
During the match some of the French fans, in all their stupidity, booed
Serena. These French fans must
have forgotten that French colonial armies had been defeated by armies of
people who were not Caucasian in places like Algeria, Haiti, and Vietnam.

On this day, Henin won the few
points that enabled her to win the match.
However, Serena Williams never gave up, and played hard until the
end. Serena would be a champion
for a much longer period of time than Justine Hardin, and win more
championships.

In the film, Venus and Serena, Serena Williams talked about why she has been so
competitive on the tennis court.
She said that she didn’t want to be another statistic. In other words, her background was a
clear factor in her outstanding success.

This is a story of how two young
sisters managed to overcome nearly insurmountable odds to become world
champions for over a decade. This
is a story of how they have done this while remaining proud of who they
are.

Certainly, the world’s problems
will not be solved by world champion tennis players. However, this story is about how it was indeed possible for
two young talented Black women from an inner city of this country to gain the
discipline to achieve their goals.
While there have been many others who have achieved other momentous
goals, certainly Venus and Serena Williams deserve their place in history.

About Me

I am the author of the novel "Looking Back From 2101." My novel imagines a future world where poverty and discrimination are no longer a part of the human condition. My blog contains articles and poems that I've written over the years. Many of my poems are biographies of historical figures who I have found to be inspiring.